1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to systems and methods for supporting wireless telecommunications networks that provide fixed, portable and fully mobile high-speed, secure communications. Particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for routing signals through such wireless telecommunications networks. Still more particularly, the present invention, called Adaptive Personal Router (APR), permits analog and digital signals including voice, video and data to be dynamically forward routed through the wireless network to achieve the best open path using a variety of metrics.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, certain limited aspects relevant to the present invention have been proposed, such as in the following prior art patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,062 to Brownrigg et al. discloses a wireless network system including a gateway server having a server controller and a server radio modem, and a number of clients each including a client controller and a client radio modem. The server controller implements a server process that includes the receipt and the transmission of data packets via the radio modem. The client controllers of each of the clients implements a client process that includes the receipt and transmission of data packets via the client radio modem. The client process of each of the clients initiates, selects, and maintains a radio transmission path to the server that is either a direct path to the server, or is an indirect path or xe2x80x9clinkxe2x80x9d to the server through at least one of the remainder of the clients. The process disclosed in Brownrigg et al. preferably optimizes the link to minimize the number of xe2x80x9chopsxe2x80x9d to the server.
Brownrigg et al. differs from the present invention in that although it suggests employing one or more clients to link transmission to the gateway server, it does not include any method or system whereby the path is polled for available bandwidth, or response time. Furthermore, Brownrigg et al. includes no mechanism for dynamically tailoring the transmission routing for individual clients, but rather discloses a method of monitoring all clients and servers in the entire network. In addition, the invention of Brownrigg et al.is specifically designed to operate in a fixed environment.
The present invention includes the ability to adjust transmission path as a result of polling individual clients and the gateway server for such information as response time, signal strength, data throughput, and available bandwidth, thereby providing a continuously optimized connection based on any combination of such data. Furthermore, the present invention is specifically designed to operate in a mobile environment, and includes a method and system for evaluating the effect of location changes, again by polling relevant locations for various data as response time, signal strength, data throughput, and available bandwidth.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,733 Periasamy, et al., assigned to Cisco Technology, discloses a method of determining efficient path routing in a computer network. Through the use of a hierarchical representation of a computer network including subnetworks, the invention of Periasamy et al. includes the ability to evaluate portions of a network more efficiently than by mapping the entire network topology. However, since Periasamy et al. only address fixed computer networks, it is designed only for wired networks. As such, the invention of Periasamy et al. does not include the ability of the present invention to monitor changes in mobile unit location, and track, gather data, and update the effects of mobile unit movement on transmission path efficiency.
Known wireless networks such as the xe2x80x9cRicochetxe2x80x9d Network operated by Metricom of Los Gatos, Calif., include a wireless network of packet radio communication nodes which are designed as intelligent, autonomous and peer radio transmission and relay stations, that transmit, acknowledge and relay autonomous packets among themselves, typically in a multiple channel environment where the transmitters and receivers frequency hop among channels in a trackable, pseudo random pattern. The typical and default communication mode is random access. The Ricochet Network is an integrated hardware and software system operating entirely within the Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) Bands. As such, the Ricochet Network is not a managed network, and further is limited in its ability to increase available bandwidth to individual users. Also, the system intelligence is not located in the individual user devices.
In order to meet the above-identified needs that are unsatisfied by the prior art, it is a principal object and purpose of the present invention to provide a system and method for adaptive personal routing in a wireless network.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and system for adaptive personal routing that monitors and responds to changes in multiple data such as available bandwidth, signal strength, throughput, and response time, to provide a network of continually optimized transmission paths.
Another object of the present invention is to provide the above system using a system of designated xe2x80x9cneighborxe2x80x9d units to provide an efficient adaptive personal routing system and method of wireless telecommunication.
In a preferred embodiment, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for employing available bandwidth as a criterion for conducting adaptive personal routing.
In another preferred embodiment, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for using response time as a criterion for conducting adaptive personal routing.
In another aspect of a preferred embodiment, it is an object of the present invention to employ signal strength and throughput as criteria for conducting adaptive personal routing.
These and other objects of the invention, as well as a fuller understanding of the advantages thereof, can be had by reference to the following description and claims.
While dictionary meanings are also implied by certain terms used here, the following glossary of some terms used herein which relate to our invention may prove to be useful:
1. Gateway Server: a machine connecting a wireless network to another network, which may be another wireless network, or a wired network such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or an internet protocol-based network such as a local area network or a wide area network.
2. Throughput (TP): data transmitted per unit of time.
3. Available Bandwidth (ABW): the gateway server throughput available per mobile unit if one more mobile unit is added to the existing mobile units on that server.
4. Response Time (RT): the average length of time it takes for a response from a specific gateway server to arrive at a specific mobile unit.
5. Minimum ABW (minABW): the mobile unit service level bandwidth guarantee.
6. TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the suite of communications protocols used to connect hosts on the telecommunications networks and computer networks including the Internet.
The Adaptive Personal Router of the present invention is based on the concept that in a network, any specific wireless device need only communicate with a neighboring device in order to communicate throughout the network. The device picks routes based upon which neighbor has the better metric. If one device changes, only its neighboring devices need to reestablish their metrics to reflect the change. This dramatically cuts down on central processing unit (CPU) cycles and overhead traffic on the wireless network. This system and method can be easily distinguished from prior art wireless designs that depend solely on hop count and direct routes or indirect routes to a server device. By contrast, APR can continue to maintain communication with its neighbors even though a gateway server device ceases to exist while waiting for a new gateway connection to appear. A wireless device having multiple neighbors would choose its preferred route by rating each responding neighbor""s supplied metrics.
The algorithmic approach to network routing is Adaptive Personal Routing (APR). APR can be integrated into any radio operating on any frequency. This approach makes the user radio responsible for all routing decisions on its behalf and allows other users, also using APR and associated software, to route through it, as a repeater, to a gateway server to the internet. APR will adapt, dynamically, and reroute if a better route becomes available or an existing route is broken. In general, APR provides a local delivery system which allows access to the Internet or any Internet accessible network. A network using APR actually becomes more robust in terms of service to users as more users join the network. This is because when using APR, users actually become, as repeaters, part of the overall wireless network delivery system.